Moving to Pittsburgh, where to live? (Highland Park, Oakland: top neighborhoods, apartments, for rent)

[wilsedw]

Hi, everyone:

I'm a graduate student at WVU in Morgantown, WV and will soon be moving to Pittsburgh with one of my classmates for clinical rotations at the UPMC hospitals. I was hoping to get some advice from you all on where to rent. Ideally, we'd like to:

* Spend $1,200 per month or less
* Be within 40 minutes or less of UPMC hospitals by car (the closer the better, but I know our budget will mean a longer commute)
* Live in a quiet and safe neighborhood (the fewer undergraduate students the better and we have no need to be near nightlife as we won't have time for it)
* Have on-site laundry, with in-unit laundry (or at least hookups) preferable
* Live in a newer or renovated building if possible
* Have adequate parking for two vehicles if possible

Neither I nor my classmate know Pittsburgh at all and I know this list is probably a pretty tall order. We could probably go a little higher on the rent or be a little farther away if necessary, with safety and quietness being high priorities.

Thanks in advance for your time!

[Hopes]

The Club at North Hills.

The Club at North Hills Apartments for Rent | Pittsburgh PA Apartments on Apartmentfinder.com

[BrianTH]

That's still a generous budget for Pittsburgh if you aren't looking at the very top neighborhoods and/or buildings. So you should actually be able to live pretty close, and you will have lots of options. I assume you are talking about UPMC in Oakland or Shadyside, but you may want to confirm that (they have a lot of hospitals). Once you have done that people can give some suggestions.

[Hopes]

This might be a better link. It has more pictures.

The Club at North Hills Apartments in Pittsburgh, PA | Apartments.com

Washers and dryers in each apartment. All units have garages. Tennis courts, swimming pool, gym, etc.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That's still a generous budget for Pittsburgh if you aren't looking at the very top neighborhoods and/or buildings.

I'd say he is looking for top neighborhoods and buildings since he wants a safe neighborhood and a new building.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I'd say he is looking for top neighborhoods and buildings since he wants a safe neighborhood and a new building.

The most expensive neighborhoods in the core area are Downtown plus the ones with good nightlife areas (e.g., Shadyside and the South Side). Those are not in fact necessarily the safest neighborhoods--people are instead paying a premium for walkable access to work or local amenities.

I agree brand-new buildings tend to be expensive, because they are in short supply. Nicely renovated apartments, on the other hand, are much more common, and the OP said that would work as well.

So I would be looking for a nicely renovated apartment with laundry hookups in one of the neighborhoods near Oakland/Shadyside that is relatively quiet and safe, but not a main nightlife area. That actually covers quite a bit of ground, particularly at 1200/month.

[BrianTH]

So poking around Craigslist, I'm pretty sure you can find a decent 2BR with laundry in the quieter parts of Squirrel Hill, Greenfield, Highland Park, Point Breeze, and Regent Square (all subject to availability) in that budget.

Incidentally, this is an interesting option:

★ Avail Sept 1--The Park is Right There--Heat Incld!--Central Air ★

The Parklane is a 22-story highrise in the International style located in an otherwise low-rise residential neighborhood, right next to a nice park. It is a very quick commute from there to Oakland/Shadyside.

[Hopes]

The OP will have to provide his definition of "safe neighborhood."

Highland Park (the neighborhood and the park) might be safe to us, but might not be safe to the OP.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Hopes

The OP will have to provide his definition of "safe neighborhood." Highland Park (the neighborhood and the park) might be safe to us, but might not be safe to the OP.

True, but I am pretty sure the additional physical risk attendant to a substantially longer driving commute would actually be significantly higher than the additional physical risk attendant to living in The Parklane versus even a place with a hypothetical zero crime rate.

Generally, for the benefit of the OP:

The neighborhoods we are presently discussing are what I would call semi-urban (which means they are also semi-suburban). These are areas that were mostly built up before WWII, and feature mostly single-family homes on small lots, plus a scattering of smaller apartment buildings (and notable exceptions like The Parklane). By urban standards they generally count as quiet and low-crime, particularly if you focus on places at some distance from any local commercial districts.

The neighborhoods like this in the "East End" (the quadrant of the City east of Downtown between the rivers, with Oakland/Shadyside at its heart) tend to be popular with doctors, professors, residents, graduate and professional students, and so on associated with the universities and hospitals, less so undergrads, for precisely the reasons you gave: they offer short commutes and a pleasant lifestyle, and housing isn't too expensive.

Adding a requirement for a recent renovation and laundry limits the field a bit, but at your price point it should be doable, and in fact landlords offer some such units precisely because your requirements are typical of people in your position looking in these areas.

Hopes is correct you will have to evaluate if this is what you are looking for--for example, although as I noted the crime rates and general quietness tend to be quite favorable by urban standards, they are not necessarily as favorable as you could get if you were willing to have a considerably longer commute. But again, this is a very well-trodden path for people in your position, for good reason, so I definitely think it is worth at least checking out before you start extending your commute.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

True, but I am pretty sure the additional physical risk attendant to a substantially longer driving commute would actually be significantly higher than the additional physical risk attendant to living in The Parklane versus even a place with a hypothetical zero crime rate.

Only the OP can decide that. The commute of less than 40 minutes is an indicator that the OP might be interested in a less urban environment. Let's wait for the OP to clarify.